Diagnosis and Risk Factors of Bovine and Human Fascioliasis in Cattle Farms from a Venezuelan Andean Rural Area.

INTRODUCTION: Fascioliasis is caused in Venezuela by the trematode Fasciola hepatica, affecting herbivorous and human. The Venezuelan Andean region is endemic for bovine fascioliasis and its presence in humans is not known. The objective of this work was to detected positive cases of bovine and human fascioliasis by coprological and immunological techniques and determine the possible risk factors, in eight cattle farms of a Venezuelan Andean rural area. METHODS: We studied 143 samples of feces and sera of bovines, and 34 samples of feces and sera of humans. Feces were examined by several coprologic techniques, while sera were evaluated by ELISA using two antigens: crude extract (CE) and surface proteins (SP) of F. hepatica, which were previously standardized and validated. RESULTS: The frequency of fascioliasis in bovines was 21% by coprology, and 49.7% by SP-ELISA. The human detection was 0% by coprology, and 29.4% by SP-ELISA. There were statistical significative differences between cattle farms, regarding to the positive results by coprology and by SP-ELISA. About the possible risk factors, statistical association was found only with the presence of snails near or in the farms and consumption of non-channeled water (river, ditch or spring), both for cattle and for humans. CONCLUSION: The results showed that the studied area is endemic for bovine fascioliasis, the human has been in contact with F. hepatica and there are risk factors for the transmission of the parasite in the studied farms.

Conocimientos y actitudes de estudiantes de estomatología sobre esterilización de piezas de mano dentales / Knowledge and attitude of stomatology students regarding the sterilization of dental handpieces

Objetivos: Fue determinar el grado de conocimiento y el grado de actitud de los estudiantes de pre-grado de la Facultad de Estomatología de una universidad privada peruana, sobre la forma de esterilización de las piezas de mano dentales de alta y baja velocidad. Materiales y Métodos: Mediante una encuesta, se desarrolló un cuestionario de 24 preguntas que fue aplicada a un total de 144 estudiantes de tercer, cuarto y quinto año de dicha facultad que estuvieron estudiando los cursos de Clínica Integral del Adulto y Clínica Integral Pediátrica. El grado de conocimiento fue clasificado como alto, medio y bajo y el grado de actitud se clasificó como positivo, regular y negativo. Así mismo, se evaluó la relación entre el grado de conocimiento y actitud mediante la prueba de Chi cuadrado de Pearson. Resultados: El 43,8% de los estudiantes poseen un grado de conocimientos medio y el 61,8% mostró una actitud regular sobre la forma de esterilización de las piezas dentales de alta y baja velocidad. Conclusiones: No se encontró relación estadísticamente significativa entre el conocimiento y actitud de los estudiantes regulares; sin embargo, la relación entre la actitud y el llevar dos o más veces los cursos de clínica, si fue estadísticamente significativa.

Objectives: To determine the degree of knowledge and attitude of the students of the Faculty of Stomatology of a private peruvian university regarding the sterilization of high and low speed hand-pieces. Material and Methods: A questionnaire with 24 questions was applied to the students of third, fourth and fifth year who were taking the subjects of Integral Adult Clinic and Pediatric Clinic. The knowledge was classified as high, medium and low, and the attitude as positive, regular and negative. Chi-square test was used to evaluate the relation between knowledge and attitude. Results: 43.8% of the students had a medium level of knowledge, and 61.8% had a regular attitude regarding the sterilization of high and low hand-pieces. Conclusions: No statistically significance relationship between knowledge and attitude was found, however, the relationship between attitude and the fact if a student repeat a subject showed statistically significance.